An electronic-circuit-component mounting machine (hereinafter abbreviated as “component mounting machine” unless otherwise required) generally includes: a circuit-substrate holding device for holding a circuit substrate; an electronic-component supplying device (hereinafter abbreviated as “component supplying device” unless otherwise required) for supplying an electronic circuit component (hereinafter abbreviated as “component” unless otherwise required); and a component mounting machine configured to receive the component from the component supplying device and mounts the component onto the circuit substrate held by the substrate holding device. As the component supplying device, a device including the plurality of tape feeders and a feeder holding device for holding the feeders is widely used. Each of the tape feeders is configured to feed a taped component in a longitudinal direction of a carrier tape. The taped component has a plurality of component-accommodating recesses arranged at regular pitches in the longitudinal direction and each accommodating the component. Each tape feeder is configured to sequentially position the plurality of component-accommodating recesses at a component supply portion. The tape feeders are held by the feeder holding device in a state in which the component supply portions are arranged in a direction parallel to a straight line.
Each tape feeder is for supplying the components of one kind. Thus, where there are many kinds of components to be mounted on the circuit substrate, a multiplicity of the tape feeders need to be held on the feeder holding device. However, a width of the feeder holding device is limited, thereby limiting the number of the tape feeders which can be held on the feeder holding device. Thus, a plurality of the component mounting machines are used for an operation to mount the components onto one circuit substrate. Therefore, an increase in the number of the tape feeders mountable on a single component mounting machine is extremely effective to reduce the number of necessary component mounting machines and thereby to achieve lower equipment cost. Further, if the number of the tape feeders mountable on the single component is increased, the tape feeders for supplying the various kinds of components to be mounted on the circuit substrate can be held on the feeder holding device together with each other, which can reduce a man-power required for a changeover.
One proposal for this has been made in Patent Document 1. That is, there has been proposed that feeder tables on which the tape feeders are mounted are provided in tiers in an up and down direction, and these multi-tier feeder tables are moved upward and downward to position a component supply portion of the tape feeder located on each feeder table, at a component supply position so as to allow the component mounting machine to receive the component.